WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Marvel's Avengers: Black Widow #1 by Christos Gage, Michele Bandini, Rachelle Rosenberg and VC's Joe Caramagna, on sale Wednesday, March 25.
The final trailer for Marvel Studios' Black Widow revealed more details regarding the film's primary villain, Taskmaster. Fans learned Taskmaster is in charge of the Red Room, the Russian program that trained Black Widow as a child. Aside from starring in the now-delayed Black Widow, Taskmaster will also play a role in the upcoming Marvel's Avengers video game.
Gameplay for the opening battle in Marvel's Avengers features Black Widow battling Taskmaster on a bridge, displaying Natasha Romanoff's fighting abilities as Taskmaster soars through the air on a jetpack. Taskmaster is one of the most skilled fighters in the Marvel Universe, with his ability to mimic any fighting style he encounters. Some of these moves were on display in the final Black Widow trailer, as the villain copied moves from Natasha, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Panther.
A series of prelude one-shots have peeled back the curtain on events that take place before the highly-anticipated video game, and now a preview for Marvel's Avengers: Black Widow #1 reveals the very first time Natasha Romanoff meets Taskmaster.
We pick up the action years ago after Black Widow joined Director Nick Fury as an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. A training exercise pits Black Widow against ten of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s best agents, who she easily defeats in combat. The sparring comes to an abrupt end when one agent gets frustrated and tries to use a sonic cannon in close quarters. As Nick Fury points out, using the canon in such close range will only result in taking out everyone but Black Widow.
Fury is looking for Black Widow to assume a command role in the field, so he wants her to work with a special training officer to get her up to speed on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s way of doing things, compared to how the Red Room operates. Black Widow acts offended that Fury would even suggest training since that's exactly what she has been doing since she was five years old. However, her tune changes once she meets Tony Masters, the Combat Cohesion Officer.
Of course, Tony Masters is the civilian identity of Taskmaster. When he stretches out an arm to shake Black Widow's hand, she takes it to execute a defensive maneuver. To her surprise, Masters lands on his feet, leaving Black Widow to say, "Maybe this won't be a total waste of time." So instead of being a full-time villain, Taskmaster begins as not only a member of S.H.I.E.L.D., but someone who also works closely with Black Widow.
Somewhere down the road, Taskmaster must go down a dark path that leaves him and Black Widow on opposing sides, which makes their rivalry all the more personal. We may even get to see that play out in the Black Widow-centric prelude comic.
Marvel's Avengers: Black Widow #1 goes on sale March 25 from Marvel Comics.